Any digital marketer worth their salt is tracking conversions. (I am not sure how much salt is worth, but stick with me here.) And that’s good–we want to count when users do what we want them to. But are you counting what you don’t want them to do?

I work with many clients to improve their customer experience, and that often requires that we measure completion of tasks or other types of conversions. But there are many situations that make it hard to define conversions. Most support experiences, for example, are successful if the user finds the answer, but there is not much to indicate that this has occurred. That’s where the anti-conversion come in.

An anti-conversion is when the user does something you really wish they wouldn’t do, such as a request a support chat, or call your phone desk. You don’t want them to do these things because they cost a lot more than if the user had found the answer independently on your site. These actions aren’t usually that hard to count, but do you track them?

Going further, do you total up what these anti-conversions cost you? Somebody knows what each support chat costs. Someone else knows the price tag of a support phone call. Keeping track of what these anti-conversions cost can help make the case for improving customer experience–especially site search–to help more customers succeed with self-service web actions than resorting to chat and calls that require human intervention.

If you’re not tracking your anti-conversions, let us know why not in the comments.

Mike Moran has a unique blend of marketing and technology skills that he applies to raise return on investment for large marketing programs. Mike is a former IBM Distinguished Engineer and a senior strategist at Converseon, Revealed Context, and SoloSegment. Mike is the author of three books on digital marketing and is an instructor at Rutgers Business School. He is a member of the Board of Directors of SEMPO, a Senior Fellow at the Society for New Communications Research, and a Certified Speaking Professional.